All It's Worth
by WinterSky101
Summary: A dinner between Fíli and Kíli, Bard and his children, and Legolas and Tauriel turns out to be rather awkward. Missing scene from All Will Be Well. Fourth in "All That Is Gold."


**Hello again!**

 **The events of this fic occur between chapters 11 and 12 of _All Will Be Well_ , during the week it took for the people of Lake-town, Thranduil and his elves, and Kíli and the other dwarves to get to Erebor. This fic describes a snapshot from that period.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit.**

* * *

"We are never going to reach the mountain," Kíli sighed, flopping to the ground dramatically. Fíli rolled his eyes.

"Would it be possible for you to be serious for once?" he asked. Kíli threw an arm over his eyes.

"What is the _point_ , if we're going to be stuck in this Desolation forever? I believe the mountain can move, and every night as we sleep, it creeps away from us."

Fíli snorted, nudging Kíli with his foot. "I think that's perhaps the most foolish thing I've ever heard you say," he remarked.

"What explanation have you for the fact that we never get any closer to Erebor?" Kíli retorted, moving his arm to glare up at his brother. "It's been three days, and we're barely any closer than we were when we left Lake-town!"

"You exaggerate," Fíli scolded, sitting next to Kíli. "We have traveled about three leagues over the past three days. We have four more to go. If we continue at the rate we're going, it will take four days more before we reach Erebor."

"We should _be_ there by now," Kíli protested. "Who knows what's happening with the rest of the Company-"

"There is nothing we can do for them now," Fíli interrupted firmly. "We cannot help until we reach them. And we must move with the rest of the Men of Lake-town. Anyway, brother, don't think I didn't notice how pained you looked as we walked."

"I can handle it," Kíli retorted, stung. Fíli nodded.

"You handle it now, but I don't want to risk your health to get to Erebor faster. And Tauriel would kill me if I suggested it." Kíli gave Fíli a dirty look.

"Of course you feel the need to bring Tauriel into this," he muttered. Fíli grinned.

"You'll listen to her better than you'll listen to me, and I know she'll be on my side."

"When she's not off with that stupid elf princeling." Kíli would never admit that he didn't find Legolas _entirely_ horrible, but Tauriel had begun to split her time between him and Kíli, and her absence was keenly felt. Kíli knew he had no right to her attention, but he missed it regardless.

"Psh," Fíli scoffed. "Even you have more of a beard than he does. Not by much" - Kíli shoved his brother immediately - "but enough that no one with any brains would choose him over you."

"I don't believe elf women judge men by the length of their beard," Kíli argued. "If so, how would they ever find an elf man?"

"Ah," Fíli countered, "but now that Tauriel has been exposed to the luscious beards of the dwarrows, how could she ever go back to the beardless elves?"

"Quite easily, I should think," a voice muttered. Kíli sighed, looking over his shoulder to see Legolas approach. "My father wishes to speak to you tomorrow, Fíli," he stated in an emotionless voice.

Fíli let out a long groan. "If I must," he sighed. Legolas' expression didn't change in the slightest.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kíli saw Tauriel approaching and perked up. "Legolas?" she asked as she reached them. Kíli pushed aside the stab of jealousy he felt that she had spoken to Legolas before him. "I had not thought to find you here."

"My father needed a message sent to Fíli," Legolas replied shortly. After a moment, he added something in Sindarin that sounded much more tentative. Tauriel replied in the same language. Kíli drummed his fingers against his leg, wondering when they would return to a language everyone could speak.

"You wouldn't mind if Legolas ate with us, would you?" Tauriel asked Kíli and Fíli suddenly, turning to them.

"Not at all," Fíli replied quickly, before Kíli could say anything. Kíli found that highly unfair; he would have said the thing same as Fíli, if with a bit more teasing thrown in. If they'd said no, Tauriel would have probably gone off to eat with Legolas. Thus, to eat with Tauriel, Kíli would have to suffer Legolas' presence.

The meal was to be the same leafy, meatless fare as it had been since the elves shared their food with Lake-town. Kíli was dying for a bit of meat, but Bard's hunters hadn't been able to find any, no matter how far across the Desolation they traveled. Kíli was beginning to doubt he'd ever taste meat again.

"Prince Legolas." Bard sounded surprised at the addition. "How unexpected." Kíli noticed that Bard didn't remark on whether it was a good unexpected or a bad unexpected. Given the way Legolas' expression tightened, he'd caught on to that as well. He muttered something to Tauriel in Sindarin. She shook her head and replied in a scolding tone. Kíli wondered if it was worth learning Sindarin just so he could understand these little conversations.

"I'll go fetch another plate," Bard said quickly, apparently realizing his faux pas and working to correct it. "It'll only take a minute."

"You don't need to," Legolas replied, shaking his head. "I can leave, if that is what you wish."

"Oh, sit _down_ ," Kíli huffed, barely restraining from grabbing Legolas and dragging him into a sitting position. "We're happy to have you here if you want to be here. Stop making a fuss."

Legolas' expression twisted in a way that made Kíli think he'd said the wrong thing for a moment, but then he obediently sat. Tauriel shot Kíli an amused and grateful look over Legolas' head. Kíli winked as he sat down, placing himself next to Legolas. It was the closest he could get to Tauriel; she sat on Legolas' other side, with Tilda and Sigrid next to her. Fíli sighed as he sat next to Kíli, probably wondering how much diplomatic damage could be done during the course of one meal. Kíli thought he should remember Rivendell; Kíli had already shown that he could behave himself… mostly.

"You're very pretty," Tilda told Legolas seriously. Kíli snorted. Legolas looked rather stunned.

"I- Um, thank you," he stammered. Tauriel's lips curved with amusement.

"Are all elves as pretty as you two?" Tilda asked.

"I rather find Tauriel to be a model of beauty that few, if any, could hope to reach," Kíli remarked. Fíli rolled his eyes. Kíli elbowed him in the side.

"High praise, for a dwarrow," Tauriel replied. Legolas muttered something in Sindarin. Tauriel's eyes went wide and she retorted sharply. Kíli really wished he knew what they were saying.

"Here you are, Prince Legolas," Bard stated as he returned, handing Legolas a plate. Legolas inclined his head in thanks.

"Bard, did you know that your youngest daughter finds elves attractive?" Kíli remarked as everyone began to serve themselves. "I'd keep an eye on her if I were you."

"Has she been rude?" Bard asked immediately. Tauriel smiled, shaking her head.

"Not at all. She merely paid Legolas and I a few compliments."

"Elves are pretty, aren't they, Da?" Tilda asked. Kíli bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the expression on Bard's face.

"Don't you find them pretty, Bard?" he asked, his voice thick with amusement.

"Exceedingly," Bard replied in a deadpan voice.

"Personally," Kíli added, "I find Thranduil-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Legolas choked. Fíli's glare was dangerously close to burning a hole through Kíli's head.

The rest of dinner went mostly smoothly, considering Fíli stamped on Kíli's foot every time he tried to speak. Kíli thought that was far more excessive than was actually necessary, but Fíli apparently thought differently.

"Thank you for allowing us to eat with you," Tauriel stated when she and Legolas stood to leave. Kíli felt a sharp stab of disappointment; he wished she would stay longer.

"It was a pleasure," Bard replied.

"The greatest we could hope for," Kíli replied, winking at Tauriel. Fíli let out a low groan. Kíli turned a smile on Legolas as well, although a different one than he'd showed Tauriel. "And you weren't as entirely unpleasant as I'd thought you'd be," he added. Fíli made a noise that sounded something like a tea kettle boiling over. Tauriel's eyes flashed with amusement.

"A sentiment I am unsure I can return," Legolas retorted. Kíli would never admit that his respect for Legolas rose quite a bit after that remark.

"My apologies," Tauriel stated, but the badly concealed amusement in her tone somewhat contradicted her words. Legolas rolled his eyes as they left.

"I like Tauriel," Tilda stated as the others began clearing up. Kíli, freed from cleaning duty due to his leg, grinned.

"As do I," he replied. Tilda sat down next to him, leaning against his shoulder.

"Will she go back with the other elves after we get to the mountain?" she asked. Kíli ignored the way his chest tightened at the thought.

"I suppose so," he replied. "She'll want to go back with her people."

"I don't want to never see her again," Tilda murmured as she lay her head down in Kíli's lap. Kíli huffed out a dry laugh as he tousled her hair gently.

"Neither do I," he admitted.

"She should stay with us." Tilda's voice was slurred, as she was quickly falling asleep; Kíli supposed all the traveling had worn her out.

"I agree," Kíli murmured. "I only wish she could."


End file.
